That's very standard, yes. It's pretty much what everyone charges, it's so standard even Authorize.net charges that for merchant payment processing.
The interchange pricing plus fee is just that isn't it, a fee plus the interchange fee? Comparing a partial fee to a full fee doesn't seem fair, or I'm missing something.
So yes, 2.9% + 30c is pretty standard. Don't really know of any exception (apart from native digital currencies. Bitpay does Saas payment processing at 0% fees for example).
I run a UK CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club) which is registered as a non-profit with HMRC and whose articles of association with Companies House require us to be structured in such a way that we are a non-profit (obligations to invest all profits in the promotion of sport).
Even as this type of entity we are eligible and receive the PayPal charity rates.
The donations by Tilt may work for groups that are not actually legal non-profit entities, but for any group that is a non-profit the fees are excessively high.
The reality is, our donations and contributions are usually fairly predictable. So we work to maximise how much we get from that revenue, by choosing the lowest fees and claiming back Gift Aid (CASCs can do this).
PayPal works really well for us, and with the fees being half what competitors offer I'm not even looking to change.
> The interchange pricing plus fee is just that isn't it, a fee plus the interchange fee?
Nope. With Authorize.net resellers, you can either pay a variable percentage (as low as 1.9% on qualified cards or 2.9% on unqualified cards, determined arbitrarily) OR $0.30 + 0.10% if you elect for Interchange Pricing Plus when you set up your Authorize.net account.
My previous employer had me spend several hours of development time in contact with our reseller to save cents on each transaction. I don't know if it was worth it.
Cool thanks for the info. So I assume you guys were mostly doing <$10 payments to favor the variable pricing? What kind of industry was your employer in?
About the qualified cards, what does that mean and how can that be arbitrary? Thanks!
He sold textbooks and lab materials to middle school teachers; teachers were reimbursed by the State after attending a workshop he ran every weekend.
Most orders were in excess of $100.
$100 * 0.10% + $0.30 = $0.40
$100 * 2.90% = $2.90
The trick is, if you don't know to ask for IPP, you get the 2.9% (but some orders will be as low as 1.9%) rate. If you do ask, you can opt for $0.30 + 0.10%.
I don't know what sort of behind-the-curtain negotiation it required to get the rates he got, but whether or not it saves you $ depends on your average transaction and expected sales volume.
Using my numbers, if your transactions are normally below $11, you'll probably benefit more from the standard three tier.
I'm pretty sure 2.9% + $0.30 is standard.